KDH hit the  2011 Great Chefs Dinner event on Sunday, July 31. The sunset filled evening kicked off with a “Meet the Chefs” cocktail party  – held in a festive tent on Hayground School’s beautiful grounds and featuring live music, silent auction and a bounty of tastings from participating great chefs and restaurants! Following the culinary cocktail delight was the official Chefs Dinner.

KDH is such a foodie so it was a thrill to meet some world famous chefs at the event including: Mark Forgione, Marc Meyer, Josh Capon, Jonathan Waxman, Harold Dieterle, Michael White, Gerry Hayden, Claudia Fleming and Special Guest “Chef” Isaac Mizrahi. This delicious event is now in its seventh year in the ongoing series and benefits Hayground School’s Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship Fund. The cocktail party featured Manhattan chefs as well as top local chefs preparing hors d’oeuvres using local bounty. The party also includes specialty drinks and wines, in addition to a silent art auction comprised of works by renowned local artists. This night was definitely one of our favorite events of the summer! Here’s how it all went down:

Cocktail Party Cuisine:  These are KDH favorites from the menu of amazing appetizers that were served at the cocktail party!!
*Chef Joseph Realmuto, Chef de Cuisine Juan Geronimo (La Fondita) – local striped bass tacos with salsa ranchero
*Chef Kevin Penner (The Grill on Pantigo) – fluke tartare with lime vinaigrette
*Chef Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto) – eggplant Parmesan with corn salsa;
*Chef James Carpenter (The Living Room) – gravlox with Swedish mustard sauce and caviar;
*Chef Matt Michel (Rolling in Dough) – bacon and arugula pizza, & fresh mozzarella, basil and heirloom tomato pizza;
*Chef Jason Weiner (Almond) – spicy tomato soup with pickled shrimp;
*Chef Josh Capon (Lure Fish Bar) – Kushi oysters with jalapeno ponzu, & Blue Point oysters with pineapple cucumber relish;
*Harold Dieterle (Kin Shop) – marinated baby calamari with coconut-chile broth and crispy taro root; *Christian Mir (Stone Creek Inn) – shrimp éclair;
*Cheryl Stair (Art of Eating) – goat cheese gelato shoppe
*Eric Tilstra – Belly’s Sno Balls.

Local Artists Silent Auction
The silent art auction held during the cocktail party consisted of works by renowned local artists including: Jean Pagliuso, Perry Burns, Margaret Garrett, Laurie Lambrecht, Philippe Cheng, Nanette Carter, Roger Ricco, Laura Craig McNellis, Tapp Franke, Joyce Parcher, Bastienne Schmidt, Susan Lazarus, Janet Jennings, Toni Ross, Jaffe Turnbull, Erica-Lynn Huberty, Lisa Pevaroff, Sally Gall, and Tim Davis.

VIP Wine Dinner in Jeff’s Kitchen Featuring Top Culinary Talent
The ensuing sit-down dinner featured a four-course meal paired with wines from Wölffer Estate Vineyard. The menu, prepared by a select few of the participating chefs, includes: mezze, charred eggplant caper tonnato spread with Lavash crackers; Block Island fluke crudo, with compressed canteloupe, cilantro shoots, Hawaiian sea salt and poached ginger (Chef Gerry Hayden, North Fork Table and Inn); rigatoni with rabbit sausage, favas, morels and pecorino di fossa (Chef Michael White, Marea); veal tenderloin, Pierre poivre, sungold cherry tomatoes, local corn emulsion (Chef Marc Forgione, Restaurant Marc Forgione); salted chocolate caramel tart with blackberry compote (Chef Claudia Fleming, North Fork Table and Inn); and tequila cherry chocolate chip ice cream (Guest Chef Isaac Mizrahi). A portion of the produce used will be sourced from Hayground School’s own Slow Foods Greenhouse. Another highlight of the dinner will be dessert: Casa Dragones, a limited edition tequila favored by several top chefs, will be poured to complement Chef Fleming’s tarte. There will also be music by Groove Gumbo Super Band, with a live auction after dinner.

An Annual Tribute to the Late Jeff Salaway
The Chefs Dinner series is the primary fundraiser for Bridgehampton’s own Hayground School (www.haygroundschool.org) and an annual tribute to the late Jeff Salaway, a widely respected and beloved restaurateur and one of the school’s co-founders. The 2010 event raises funds for Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship. Says Nick & Toni’s Toni Ross, who was also the late Salaway’s wife, “Jeff believed that the growing, preparation and sharing of food is a primal human experience and the foundation of family and community.” Jeff’s Kitchen is a full service professional kitchen and classroom fitted with top-of-the-line Viking appliances and a new pizza oven. Classes in nutrition, food science and cooking are held there for both children and adults. Completing the facility, recently a professional Farmtek greenhouse was erected by Hayground students, staff and friends with funds provided by Slow Food.

About Hayground School
Hayground School is founded on the conviction that all children can and should live a life of the mind. All children can be serious and passionate readers; all children can engage in serious discourse; all children can work and study in a community where art is at the center, not the periphery, of life. All children can develop the habit of compassion. The mission at Hayground is to provide an open, community school where conventional teaching methods are replaced by new ways of teaching and learning. They are committed to a program of innovation in a community of diversity, both economic and cultural.